200 Million-Year-Old Welsh Dinosaur Formally Named 'Dragon Thief'

The fossil of a 201-million-year-old dinosaur discovered in Wales, UK, has been formally named Dracoraptor hanigani - "Dragon Thief". Dracoraptor loosely translates to "dragon thief" in recognition of its Welsh roots, whereas hanigani commemorates the Welsh brothers who discovered the remains in Penarth, South Wales, in 2014 - Rob and Nick Hanigan.

"We invited Rob and Nick to name this beautiful little dinosaur and they suggested Dracoraptor after 'draco' meaning 'dragon', the national symbol of Wales, and 'raptor' meaning 'thief' or 'plunderer'," Dr. Dave Martill from Portsmouth Universeity told the BBC.

"The draco part of the name seemed fitting because the fossils were found in Wales and will be displayed in Wales, reflecting the red dragon of the Welsh flag. Dracoraptor was a meat-eating dinosaur that would have used its small needle-sharp teeth with steak-knife serrations to pinch bits of meat here and there, hence the part of its name meaning thief. Although the Hanigan brothers chose the generic name, we also wanted to credit them, which is why the full name of the species is in fact Dracoraptor hanigani."
Scientists now believe that this is the oldest known Jurassic dinosaur discovered in the UK. Almost 40 percent of the animal was preserved, including the foot bones, teeth, skull, and claws.

Artist's impression of the Dracoraptor hanigani  [B.NICHOLLS, via BBC]

"It's right at that point in the diversification of dinosaurs where so-called therapod dinosaurs - the meat-eating ones - became what are called neotherapods," team member Steven Vidovic added. "It's from this moment onwards that they go on to become all the forms we know, like T. rex, Velociraptor, and even birds.
"The reason we know the age of the dinosaurs - what we call the Mesozoic Era - is because of this Triassic-Jurassic extinction event.
"But we actually understand very little about that early phase of the Jurassic. It's not until the Middle Jurassic that we get all the diversity and forms that you know from children's books.

"So, everyone's been hunting for these really early Jurassic specimens, going to exotic places in Africa, North and Central America, and then a couple of brothers stumble across something on a beach near Cardiff."
Last year, researchers have found the largest winged dinosaur on record in China. The fossil is so well-preserved that scientists have been able to reconstruct the placement of its plumage. It measures two full meters in length. Despite its impressive wingspan, though, researchers say it probably wasn't able to fly.